Behavior Counseling at Mifflintown Veterinary Clinic
At Juniata Veterinary Clinic, we offer more than veterinary care for physical wellness. Our clinic in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, also offer behavior counseling. These services help pet owners handle behavioral issues, from basic obedience training for puppies to individualized help for problems in adult dogs.
Behavioral Help
Having a healthy and happy bond with your pets involves ensuring that they learn how to behave in your home and in public. Our veterinarians and the rest of our team at Juniata Veterinary Clinic are here to help with behavioral issues. Puppies require training in order to learn basic commands, such as “stay” and “sit,” while older dogs might need some help with more specific behavioral issues. For example, adult dogs might bark excessively, jump on people, chew on household items, pull on their leash or eliminate inside the home.
For puppies, learning to behave is a matter of going through obedience training and crate training. We offer puppy classes that are designed to do this. These classes typically run for 4 weeks at a time and give your puppy a chance to be around other dogs. This helps your puppy adjust to different surroundings and work on behaving appropriately with other animals. During these classes, you will also learn how to use training techniques at home, so you can reinforce what your puppy learns in class. This helps ensure that your puppy continues to listen to commands on a regular basis.
For older dogs, discovering the cause of inappropriate behavior is essential in order to help them overcome it. Our veterinarians will check for signs of an underlying medical condition that could be responsible for your pet’s behavior. If a medical condition is found, we will provide treatment. If no medical conditions are found, our veterinarians will recommend behavioral counseling based on your pet’s needs. This might include behavioral help for separation anxiety that causes chewing or barking or help teaching your dog to stop jumping on people.
Behavior Counseling Keeps Pets Safe
Building a strong bond between you and your pet and helping your pet become more pleasant to be around are not the only reasons to seek behavioral help. Behavior counseling can also play an important role in keeping your pets safe. For example, teaching puppies to stay on command lowers the risk of having them run out into the street. Correcting problems in older dogs, such as growling or other fear-based behaviors, helps reduce the risk of having them snap at other pets or people, which makes them safer to be around.